ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Finance
Public Debt Management report for the quarter of January March 2021
Since April-June  2010-11, Public Debt Management Cell , Budget Division, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, has been bringing out a quarterly report on debt management on a regular basis. The current report pertains to the quarter January - March 2021 .
During Q4 of FY21, the Central Government issued dated securities worth Rs 3,20,349 crore as against Rs 76,000 crore in Q4 of FY20, while repayment were at Rs 29,145 crore. The weighted average yield of primary issuances increased to 5.80 per cent in Q4 FY21 from 5.68 per cent in Q3 of FY21. The weighted average maturity of new issuances of dated securities was lower at 13.36 years in Q4 of FY21 as compared to 14.96 years in Q3 of FY21. During January - March 2021, the Central Government did not raise any amount through the Cash Management Bills. The Reserve Bank conducted nine special and normal OMOs involving simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities during the quarter. The net daily average liquidity absorption by RBI under Liquidity Adjustment Facility  including Marginal Standing Facility and Special Liquidity Facility was at Rs 3,35,651 crore during the quarter.
Total liabilities  of the Government, as per provisional data, increased to Rs 1,16,21,781 crore at end-March 2021 from Rs 1,09,26,322 crore at end-December 2020. This represented a quarter-on-quarter increase of 6.36 per cent in Q4 FY21. Public debt accounted for 88.10 per cent of total outstanding liabilities at end-March 2021. Nearly 29.33 per cent of the outstanding dated securities had a residual maturity of less than 5 years. The ownership pattern indicates the share of commercial banks at 37.8 per cent and at 25.3 per cent for insurance companies at end- March 2021.
The yields on Government securities hardened in the secondary market due to increase in supply of G-secs during the quarter. Further, hardening of yields was more on the short end of curve due to increase in weekly borrowing and also announcement of resumption of normal liquidity operations by the Reserve Bank. However, the yields were supported by decision of MPC meetings held on 5th February, 2021, wherein MPC kept the Policy repo rate unchanged at 4 percent and reiterated to continue with accommodative stance, at least during the current financial year and into the next financial year – to revive growth on a durable basis and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward.
CLICK HERE to access the report
Ministry of Defence
Army Chief Felicitates Army Player
In the recently concluded Asia Cup  at Dhaka, Bangladesh, which the Indian Team has won after a gap of 10 Years, there were two outstanding players from the Indian Army namely Havildar Akash Chikte  and Recruit Suraj Karkera . Owing to the extra-ordinary performance, Havildar Akash Chikte was adjudged as the best Goal Keeper of the tournament. Both players were felicitated by General Bipin Rawat, COAS on 31 Oct 17. Havildar Akash Chikte was also promoted to the rank of Naib Subedar by the COAS as per the existing provision.
Ministry of Defence
INDIAN ARMY TO ORGANISE “SWARNIM VIJAY GATHA” AT KOLKATA ON 16 DECEMBER 2021
Indian Armed Forces secured a decisive victory over Pakistan which resulted in the Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. It was the largest military surrender after the Second World War and the Indian Armed Forces alongwith Mukti Bahini liberated Bangladesh in a span of just 13 days.
To commemorate the glorious victory of 1971, year 2021 was marked as ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ and Hon’ble Prime Minister had lit the Victory Flame to mark the beginning of Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations. Various events were organised by Indian Army at many locations in West Bengal and all North East states throughout the year and now a ‘Swarnim Vijay Gatha’ is being organised at Victoria Memorial, Kolkata on 16th December 2021 which would also mark the culmination of celebrations of Swarnim Vijay Varsh.
‘Swarnim Vijay Gatha’ will showcase a variety of events to include a customised light and sound show on the walls of Victoria Memorial depicting the story of War of Liberation of Bangladesh.
The symphonic military band of Eastern Command would also perform patriotic and martial tunes with three military and two Jazz bands which will feature 76 musicians participating in the concert.
The ‘Swarnim Vijay Gatha’ will commence at 5:00 pm on 16th December 2021 at Victoria Memorial, Kolkata and would be aired LIVE on Youtubechannel https://youtube.com/channel/UCChhAAisDNuXHEwE8_ebkSg and Eastern Command Facebook page: Eastern Command_Indian Army.
The event would be graced by War Veterans, senior military commanders, and other eminent personalities including of the State and Civil Administration.
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Cabinet
Cabinet approves establishment of the International Rice Research Institute , South Asia Regional Center  at campus of National Seed Research and Training Center  in Varanasi
Cabinet approves establishment of the International Rice Research Institute , South Asia Regional Center  at campus of National Seed Research and Training Center  in Varanasi
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the establishment of the International Rice Research Institute , South Asia Regional Center  at campus of National Seed Research and Training Center  in Varanasi.
Under the proposal, a Centre of Excellence in Rice Value Addition  will be set up in Varanasi. This will include a modern and sophisticated laboratory with capacity to determine quality and status of heavy metals in grain and straw. The Centre will also undertake capacity building exercises for stakeholders across the rice value chain.
This Center will be the first international Center in the eastern India and it will play a major role in harnessing and sustaining rice production in the region. It is expected to be a boon for food production and skill development in the eastern India and similar ecologies in other South Asian and African countries.
Benefits from ISARC
The Centre will help in utilizing the rich biodiversity of India to develop special rice varieties. This will help India to achieve higher per hectare yields and improved nutritional contents. India's food and nutritional security issues will also be addressed. The Centre will support in adopting value chain based production system in the country. This will reduce wastage, add value and generate higher income for the farmers. The farmers in Eastern India will benefit in particular, besides those in South Asian and African countries.
Management of ISARC
ISARC will operate under the governance of the IRRI Board of Trustees who will appoint an appropriate IRRI staff member as Director. A Coordination Committee will be headed by Director General, IRRI as Chair and Secretary, Government of India, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare  as Co-Chair. The other members of Coordination Committee are Deputy Director General , ICAR; Director, NSRTC; IRRI representative in India, representative of Government of UP and representatives of Governments of Nepal & Bangladesh and Private Sector.
For setting up of the Centre, A Memorandum of Agreement, will be signed between DAC&FW and IRRI, Philippines. The Department of DAC&FW will provide physical space for laboratories, offices, training classes, etc. with associated infrastructure and land at NSRTC, Varanasi. The Centre will be commissioned within six months.
Ministry of Home Affairs
Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah hailed PM Shri Narendra Modi on the launch of “Atma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan” for the welfare of migrant workers and poor labourers of the State and their empowerment
“This Scheme linked with Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan will provide double-engine growth to Uttar Pradesh”: Shri Amit Shah
“Atma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan will improve infrastructure and result in comprehensive development of rural India”: Union Home Minister
Shri Amit Shah says “Scheme will benefit crores of migrant workers and poor labourers in 31 districts of Uttar Pradesh”
Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah said “Atma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan” launched by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today will accelerate development in the state of Uttar Pradesh. “This scheme has been linked with Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan which will double-engine growth to Uttar Pradesh,” said Shri Amit Shah in a series of tweets.
Union Home Minister said “under ‘Atma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan’ various developmental works will be undertaken, such as the Prime Minister Awas Yojana, PM Sadak Yojana, construction of toilets and expressways, tree plantation etc”. “This will not only lead to development of infrastructure in the villages but will also play an important role in the comprehensive development of rural India,” he said.
Union Home Minister said, “Atma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan will be implemented in 31 districts of Uttar Pradesh which will benefit crores of migrant workers and poor labourers by providing them with employment opportunities close to their homes”. “I express my gratitude to Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath for this unprecedented scheme which is a combination of welfare of the poor and rural development” said Shri Amit Shah.
Ministry of Science & Technology
New low cost ‘Powerless Heating System’ activated with water can heat food in remote areas
A new low-cost heating system which can be activated by plain water anytime anywhere and does not require any fuel or electricity to heat or power it, can act as a heating solution in any location.
Lack of heating sources at remote places with no access or uncertain access to power sources is an inconvenience faced by many, especially in remote areas like the North East.
Dr. Sumer Singh, Associate Professor, Department of Design, IIT Delhi along with his research team addressed this with a technology that works on chemical energy. It is called ‘Powerless Heating Technology’.
The active heating element consists of a mixture of eco friendly minerals and salts, which generates exothermic energy resulting in heat on contact with water. This provides enough energy to raise the temperature of any food or beverage by 60 to 70 degree Celsius. The weight of the heater is only 50 grams, and after every heating, the by-product  inside the heating pad can be disposed of. The rock helps in improving the fertility of the soil and is 100 % biodegradable.
With this technology, users can heat ready-to-eat food, make instant noodles, and any beverage like tea, coffee, etc. The by-product of the heating process is a natural mineral that easily integrates into the soil without any toxic effects.
North East Center for Technology Application and Reach , an autonomous body under the Department of Science Technology, Govt. of India, supported Dr. Singh and his team to develop a food box and a liquid container that can be integrated with the Powerless Heating Technology. They have used it to develop containers which can heat food or & beverages on demand.
These products will be of great use to military personnel, tourists, and office-goers in the northeast. This Powerless Heating Technology eliminates the need for burning forest wood for heating purposes, thus also reducing forest fires, which is a major problem in the North Eastern parts of the country. The prototypes were successfully developed and tested. Several FMCG companies are keen to launch it in the market.
Anchiale Technologies, a Gurgaon-based spin-off start-up, is scaling up this technology and has started supplying it to the Indian Navy and some food manufacturing companies. A patent for the technology has been filed. A nondisclosure agreement  has been signed with the Indian Tobacco Company  for integration of this technology in their food products.
Prime Minister's Office
PM pays tributes to Shri C. Rajagopalachari on his Jayanti
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to Shri C. Rajagopalachari on his Jayanti.
In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister said;
"Tributes to Shri C. Rajagopalachari on his Jayanti. He is remembered for his contributions to the freedom struggle, administrative and intellectual prowess.
Sharing a glimpse of Rajaji taking oath as Governor General and the notification of him being awarded the Bharat Ratna. https://t.co/psAnq7i9bo
Rajaji was a widely admired statesman. One of his most ardent well-wishers was Sardar Patel.
Here is a part of a letter Sardar Patel penned to Rajaji when he took over as Governor General of India. https://t.co/FN2N2FNAs6"
Prime Minister's Office
Current Parliament Session should lay strong foundation for a bright future of the country in the new decade says the Prime Minister
Asks members to focus on economic development and empowerment of the people
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi asked the Members of Parliament to work towards laying a strong foundation for a bright future of the country in the new decade.
In his customary remarks to the media before the commencement of the Budget session of the Parliament today the Prime Minister called for wide discussions on the economic issues in the country and how to maximize benefits to India in the current global economic scenario.
“We should focus mostly on economic issues in this session and we should to try to see how India can benefit most out of the present global economic scenario and how it can take forward the country’s economy.”
Calling for enriched discussions in both the Houses of Parliament, the Prime Minister said it should also focus on the empowerment of the people.
“Our Government is known for striving for the empowerment of all the underprivileged sections and women. We would continue to work in this direction even in this decade. I wish that both the houses have great discussions on economic issues and empowerment of people. I am confident that the discussions would be enlightening and enriching all of us’, he said
Prime Minister's Office
PM expresses happiness over start of flight services between Chipi Airport, Sindhudurg and Mumbai
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has said that the new flight services between Chipi Airport, Sindhudurg and Mumbai will give an impetus to tourism and connectivity in the region.
Quoting a tweet from the Civil Aviation Minister Shri Jyotiraditya Scindhia, the Prime Minister tweeted :
"Today is a special day for the wonderful people of the Konkan region and will surely give an impetus to connectivity and tourism."
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya to chair two-day Global Conference on Digital Health – ‘Taking Universal Health Coverage to the last citizen’
Global Conference aims to shift focus from strategy to achieving a global consensus on a Plan of Action that produces impactful results
Leveraging India’s presidency of the G20 and the prolific actions and commitments of previous presidencies, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the WHO South-East Asia Regional office are organizing a two-day Global Conference on Digital Health – ‘Taking Universal Health Coverage to the last citizen’ on 20th and 21st March 2023 in New Delhi. Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, and Chemicals & Fertilizers will chair the Global Conference. Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, Shri Lav Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional, Director, WHO SEARO, Prof Alain Labrique, Director, Digital Health and Innovation, WHO/HQ and Manoj Jhalani, Director Health System Department, WHO, SEARO will also grace the meet.
The conclave will bring together global leaders and health development partners, health policy makers, digital health innovators and influencers, academia and other stakeholders. The objective of the Global Conference on Digital Health is to shift the focus from strategy to achieving a global consensus on a Plan of Action that produces impactful results on the ground in the member countries, through a set of digital health initiatives aiming to accelerate our progress towards UHC.
The Global Conference will address the issues to accelerate the implementation of connected digital health initiatives and interventions as a cornerstone of building PHC-oriented and resilient health systems. It will also focus on to unlock the potential of delivering and sharing digital health solutions in an ethical, safe, secure, reliable, equitable and sustainable way. The conference will also focus on to finding ways to invest, develop and share digital technologies following principles of transparency, accessibility, scalability, replicability, interoperability, privacy, security, and confidentiality. This will help in establishing strategic enablers and technology enablers required for implementing digital health at population scale.
As part of the Global Conference, five sessions on following aspects have been planned:
- Digital health - an imperative for UHC
- Digital health population scale – Strategic enablers
- Digital health population scale - Technology enablers
- Innovations for UHC
- Global Digital Goods for UHC
The conference will also have a ministerial session involving brainstorming on insight and experience on the digital transformation challenges, opportunities and critical success factors along with panel discussions.
Finance Commission
Finance Commission meets Ministry of Human Resource Development
Discussions on Higher Education
The Fifteenth Finance Commission headed by Chairman, Sh. N.K. Singh met the Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar alongwith senior officials of the Ministry to discuss on the subject of Higher Education.
The Commission was briefed by the Minister on the transformational reforms undergone by the sector in the past few years. This included autonomy of many institutes of higher education, establishment of institutes of eminence, graded autonomy to institutes, teacher training and many path breaking new legislations.
The Chairman and Members gave their views in the meeting on the need to get greater private sector investments into the sector. They stressed on the necessity of revision of governmental norms on infrastructure requirements of educational institutions; benefits of foreign universities of eminence setting up campuses in India – to infuse foreign capital and students into the sector. The Commission stressed on greater flexibility of the regulatory models of the sector, they stressed on the requirements of research in higher education along the lines of China’s “Thousand Scholarships Programmes ’. The Commission was unanimous that investing on research and building research labs was urgently required in India. The Commission further asked the Ministry to increase the number of scholarships under its scheme PMRF and also give scholarships for Mathematics and Humanities subjects. The Commission made a strong pitch for improvement of the standard of Agricultural Education by setting up a National Agricultural University directly under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Amongst other requirements, the Ministry requested the Commission to look into extra funds required by the sector for Quality Improvement Programmes – to the tune of Rs. 5300 crores for 2020-2025 which would include special grants earmarked for promoting research within the campus and to promote autonomous colleges. The Ministry also requires Rs. 105.75 crores for 2020-2021 for Impactful Policy for Research in Social Sciences. The Scheme will be implemented upto March, 2021.
Ministry of Development of North-East Region
Centre to support Rs 358 cr Hospital in Sikkim
The Centre will support the construction of 300-bed hospital in Sikkim at a cost of Rs. 358.29 crore. Disclosing this here today, after a meeting with a delegation of Sikkim State Government led by the State Health Minister Dr Mani Kumar Sharma, Union Minister of State  Development of North Eastern Region , MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that clearance has already been given by the NITI Aayog and the Union Ministry of Health, and very soon, similar clearance will also be provided by the Ministry of DoNER for the hospital proposed to be built at Namchi, the district headquarter of South Sikkim district.
Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that during the last over five years of the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, a number of held-up projects were cleared and executed. He referred to the first-ever airport in Sikkim which was inaugurated at Pakyong by the Prime Minister. He also mentioned the Sikkim being declared as the first "Organic State" of India during Prime Minister’s visit in 2016.
Dr Jitendra Singh said Sikkim is a State blessed with rich natural potentials and in recent years, the number of tourists has multiplied manifold. It is therefore, he said, in the fitness of things to address the healthcare requirements of the State, to as much extent as possible.
During the meeting, the Sikkim Health Minister also brought up before the DoNER Minister the demand for having a 100 bed hospital at Mangan, North Sikkim, another 100 bed hospital at Simgtem in East Sikkim and the upgradation of Pakyong Primary Health Centre. The DoNER Minister suggested to the State Health Minister to deliberate these proposals at the State Government level and then put them forward through the appropriate procedure for further feasibility, etc.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Update on COVID-19 Vaccine Availability in States/UTs
More than 158.46 Crore vaccine doses provided to States/UTs
More than 12.84 Crore balance and unutilized vaccine doses still available with States/UTs
The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country. The nationwide COVID 19 vaccination started on 16th January 2021. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from 21st June 2021. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.
As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, Government of India has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them COVID Vaccines free of cost. In the new phase of the universalization of the COVID19 vaccination drive, the Union Government will procure and supply  75% of the vaccines being produced by the vaccine manufacturers in the country to States and UTs.
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VACCINE DOSES
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SUPPLIED
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1,58,46,26,485
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BALANCE AVAILABLE
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12,84,31,646
More than 158.46 crore  vaccine doses have been provided to States/UTs so far through Govt. of India  and through direct state procurement category.
More than 12.84 Cr  balance and unutilized COVID Vaccine doses are still available with the States/UTs to be administered.